WOMEN’S ALLIANCE FOR KURDISTAN, IRAQ AND SYRIA

NEWS BRIEFING FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017NEWS1. Êzidî mothers: Barzani sold Shengal out to Erdoğan2. PYD Co-chair Abdullah: International powers should support the Kurds
3. YJA-Star: We will reunite with our Leader4. Blackburn activist becomes first British woman to join fight against Isis in Syria5. IS Leader, In Charge of Yezidi Abductees, Killed Near Tel Affar6. Pro-Kurdish HDP leader kicked out of Turkish parliament7. YBŞ/YJŞ vows to respond to every attack on Shengal soil
8. Paris killings: Families file charges for the investigation to be reopened
9. Turkey’s Kurds Demonstrate for their Rights On Women’s Day

COMMENT AND ANALYSIS1. Syrian Arab women battle IS, social stigma
2. VIDEO: Rojava An Experiment in Radical Direct Democracy Within a War –Torn Country
3. It’s raining women in Rojava; Bread and Roses TV
4. Islamic State will never conquer free Kurdish women: YPJ fighter Jinda Welat
5. The Rojava experiment
Behind the frontlines in Syria, a self-governing Kurdish region is making a radical attempt at gender equality.
6. Former ISIS Sex Slave Nadia Murad Tells Her Story of Survival to Gloria Steinem
7. The Women Who Escaped ISIS
8. Rojda Felat: SDF women will transform the Middle East
9. These Kurdish, Assyrian, Arab Women are Taking Down ISIS in Their Capital
10. Kurdish Vocalist Aynur Dogan Receives Prestigious Award for Excellence

CAMPAIGNS, ACTION1. Peace in Kurdistan Women’s Alliance for Kurdistan, Iraq and Syria Statement for International Women’s Day statement
2. YPJ statement on 8 March: Every free woman is a free country
3. Peace in Kurdistan at the Plaid Cymru Spring Conference 2017
4. First International Yezidi Women’s Conference

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NEWS1. Êzidî mothers: Barzani sold Shengal out to Erdoğan
5 March/ANF NewsSpeaking to ANF, mothers in Shengal responded to the KDP attack on Shengal, saying: “Barzani sold us out once again. KDP sold us out to ISIS first, and to Erdoğan now. We will fight the KDP until one single Êzidî remains alive and we will not allow the Barzani gangs to enter our lands. With these attacks, they want to finalize the 73rd genocide against Êzidîs.”http://anfenglish.com/features/ezidi-mothers-barzani-sold-shengal-out-to-erdogan2. PYD Co-chair Abdullah: International powers should support the Kurds
15 February/ANF NewsPYD Co-chair Asya Abdullah spoke in the conference in Moscow and said, “A meeting the Kurds didn’t attend and a constitution that comes out of that won’t be binding for the Kurds. The Turkish state is a threat for us,” on the crisis in Syria.http://anfenglish.com/news/pyd-co-chair-abdullah-international-powers-should-support-the-kurds

3. YJA-Star: We will reunite with our Leader
15 February/ANF NewsYJA-Star (Free Women’s Troops) Central Headquarters Command issued a written statement on the anniversary of the February 15 international conspiracy against Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan.
In its statement, YJA-Star said the following:
“We condemn the February 15 Conspiracy, which was carried out against our Leader, Kurdish people and humanity, and commemorate our comrades that dedicated their bodies to freedom and as they expressed their commitment to the Leader with the motto “You cannot darken our Sun” and the freedom martyrs that followed in the footsteps of these comrades.”http://anfenglish.com/women/yja-star-we-will-reunite-with-our-leader

5. IS Leader, In Charge of Yezidi Abductees, Killed Near Tel Affar
Bas News/1 FebruaryRocket attacks on Wednesday killed a prominent Islamic State (IS) leader near Mosul who was responsible for the abducted Kurdish Yezidi women, military sources confirmed.
“Harbi Abdulkarim, IS leader in charge of so-called Yezidi slaves, was targeted in his vehicle in the areas around Tel Affar [west of Mosul],” reads a press release by Iraqi joint command.http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/news/iraq/327725

9. Turkey’s Kurds Demonstrate for their Rights On Women’s Day
9 March/EKurd Daily
DIYARBAKIR-AMED, Turkey’s Kurdish region,— Thousands of Kurdish women on Wednesday demonstrated in the southeastern main Kurdish city of Diyarbakir in Turkish Kurdistan to demand their rights and protest against injustices against women on International Women’s Day.http://ekurd.net/turkey-kurds-women-day-2017-03-09

4. Islamic State will never conquer free Kurdish women: YPJ fighter Jinda Welat
27 january/Kurdish questionWomen’s Resistance Units (YPJ) fighter Jinda Welat, who participated in the Kobane resistance against the jihadists of the Islamic State (IS/ISIS/ISIL) group at the southwestern front, spoke to ANF on the 2nd year anniversary of the Kobane victory. Welat stated that the resistance of a small town like Kobanê spread across the entire world and Kurdish women proved their strength through this resistance. She said Kobanê became universal and had a great impact on the Middle East and Rojava.http://kurdishquestion.com/article/3812-islamic-state-will-never-conquer-free-kurdish-women-ypj-fighter-jinda-welat

5. The Rojava experiment
Behind the frontlines in Syria, a self-governing Kurdish region is making a radical attempt at gender equality.
Spring 2017/New HumanistThe brutal recapture of Aleppo by Syrian government forces and its allies at the end of 2016 does not bode well for another enclave of resistance: the predominantly Kurdish area in northern Syria. Here, in a long strip of land that runs almost continuously from east to west along the border with Turkey, a radical secular experiment with women in the driving seat has been under way since 2012.https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/5160/the-rojava-experiment

7. The Women Who Escaped ISIS
11 March/Foreign AffairsDressed in fitted slacks, a satin bomber jacket with a fake fur collar, and a black scarf that loosely framed her face, Nadia, 22, spoke in a dull monotone of her journey from life under the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) to life in a Kurdish prison. She said she had not seen her three-year-old daughter since she fled her abusive husband, a fugitive ISIS member, in March.https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/03/11/women-who-escaped-isis8. Rojda Felat: SDF women will transform the Middle East
9 March/HAWAR News AgencyRojda Felat, the YPJ commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) leading the operation to liberate Raqqa, said that women in the SDF will become the Middle East’s most significant force for change.http://en.hawarnews.com/rojda-felat-sdf-women-will-transform-the-middle-east/
9. These Kurdish, Assyrian, Arab Women are Taking Down ISIS in Their Capital
8 March/PJ MediaOn International Women’s Day, the Islamic State is under threat from a force bearing down on their declared capital, Raqqa, that includes Arab, Assyrian and Kurdish women commanders and fighters.https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/2017/03/08/these-kurdish-assyrian-arab-women-are-taking-down-isis-in-their-capital/10. Kurdish Vocalist Aynur Dogan Receives Prestigious Award for Excellence
15 March/RudawERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kurdish vocalist Aynur Dogan is to receive the Master of Mediterranean Music Award on Thursday in the United States from Berklee College, the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Dogan born in the Kurdish city of Dersim and raised in Istanbul has been a rising star in Kurdish music.http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/150320171CAMPAIGNS, ACTION1. Peace in Kurdistan Women’s Alliance for Kurdistan, Iraq and Syria Statement for International Women’s Day statement
8 March/Peace In Kurdistan CampaignFor 7 years the women of the YPJ (Women’s Protection Units) have battled to liberate themselves not only from the systematic sexual violence of ISIS, but also from the patriarchal values expressed in minds, in communities and across all regions of the world. Their slogan is “We will defeat the attacks of the Islamic State by securing the liberation of the women of the Middle East”.https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/2017/03/08/peace-in-kurdistan-womens-alliance-for-kurdistan-iraq-and-syria-statement-for-international-womens-day/

4. First International Yezidi Women’s Conference
13 March/Peace in Kurdistan CampaignThe first International Conference for Ezidi women took place in Germany last weekend providing an opportunity for a diverse group of women to come together to discuss, in their mother tongue, the Ezidi genocide and its aftermath. The high-level conference gave a platform to an authoritative group of women, representing both those who had survived the genocide, and those whose expertise ranged from the ethnic, political, historical, and psychological aspects of what had occurred.https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/2017/03/13/ezidi-womens-conference-march-2017-germany/ <https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/2017/03/13/ezidi-womens-conference-march-2017-germany/>

EMERGENCY APPEAL FOR AFRIN

Life in Afrin

Weekly News Briefing

Jeremy Corbyn issues statement of support for the National Demo

Message from Jeremy Corbyn to Kurdish national demonstration in London:
“I’m sorry not to be able to be with you today, but I send a message of solidarity with today’s demonstration, and with the Kurdish people, under sustained attack across the Middle East.
The conflict in Syria has been the trigger for an onslaught against the Kurdish people, who are defending their autonomy and their rights.
We are watching closely the alarming events that have been unfolding in Turkey in recent weeks, including the killing of civilians and destruction of Kurdish homes.
Any negotiated settlement of the Syrian conflict must include peace and justice for the Kurds, including in Turkey. And the Turkish government needs as a matter of urgency to restart the peace process with the Kurds and respect the rights of all its people.
We call for an end to repression of the Kurds and justice for the Kurdish people throughout the Middle East.”

Destruction and Repression in North Kurdistan

Freedom for Ocalan!

On the 19th anniversary of his kidnap and imprisonment by Turkey, we renew our call for Abdullah Ocalan to be freed as part of a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question.